The upper school of St. Paul School, Princeton, proudly welcomed Holocaust survivor Dr. Vera Goodkin to speak to students, staff and parents April 21. This was a rare opportunity, with fewer Holocaust survivors each year who are still alive to recount their first-hand experiences.
Dr. Goodkin recounted her family’s harrowing years of survival under relentless Nazi persecution. Her childhood plunged from idyllic to terrifying as she and her parents lost their rights and their home, and were subsequently captured and imprisoned in a series of horrific ghettoes, prisons and camps.
Thanks to the courage and determination of a Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, Dr. Goodkin and her parents, along with over 100,000 other Jewish survivors, were ultimately saved from Hitler’s “final solution.” Tragically, Wallenberg lost his own life after he was arrested by the advancing Soviet Army.
“Dr. Goodkin’s message – that ‘we are all human’ – made a powerful impact on St. Paul students, who have been reflecting on her visit, and resolving to carry her stories into the future,” said seventh grade teacher Sally Chrisman.
St. Paul School has been hosting a Holocaust survivor presentation annually for several years, under the direction of Chrisman and other upper school faculty. This year’s program was offered free of charge by the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. The core mission of the commission is to promote Holocaust education in the state, providing classroom materials and presentations, and seeking to memorialize appropriately the events of that historic and tragic history.
To learn more about programs offered or to host a speaker, visit http://www.nj.gov/education/holocaust/